Local stores don’t carry recalled lettuce brand

Kansas is not included in the seven states that have had green leaf lettuce recalled by its producer.

Nunes Co. of Salinas, Calif., announced Sunday it is voluntarily recalling all its green leafy lettuce under its Foxy brand purchased in grocery stores Oct. 3-6 in Arizona, California, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.

Hy-Vee does not carry the Foxy brand in its 199 supermarkets in seven Midwest states including 14 in Kansas, said Chris Friesleben, assistant director of communications for the West Des Moines-based company.

The Dillon chain, which has 79 stores in the state, also does not carry the brand, said Sheila Lowrie, communications coordinator at headquarters in Hutchinson.

The recall follows last month's recall of bagged spinach due to an E. coli outbreak in August and September. It has been linked to three deaths and 199 sicknesses in 26 states. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers an outbreak as two or more cases of the same disease related to common exposure.

The Food and Drug Administration traced the spinach E. coli in September to Natural Selection Foods LLC of San Juan Bautista, Calif.

E. coli can cause illnesses including diarrhea, from which people usually recover, or occasionally kidney failure.